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Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return

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Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel St. Pierre
Will Finn
Written byAdam Balsam
Randi Barnes
Based onDorothy of Oz
by Roger Stanton Baum
Produced byRoland Carroll
Ryan Carroll
Bonne Radford[1]
Starring
Edited byDan Molina
Stan Webb
Music byToby Chu
Production
companies
Prana Studios
Summertime Entertainment
Distributed byClarius Entertainment
Release dates
  • June 14, 2013 (2013-06-14) (AIAFF)
  • May 9, 2014 (2014-05-09) (United States)
Running time
88 minutes[2]
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million[3][4]
Box office$21.7 million[4]

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return is a 2013 animated musical fantasy film that is loosely based on the 1989 book Dorothy of Oz by L. Frank Baum's great-grandson Roger Stanton Baum.[1] It was directed by Daniel St. Pierre and Will Finn.[5] The film stars the voices of Lea Michele, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Dancy, Megan Hilty, Oliver Platt, Patrick Stewart, Bernadette Peters, and Martin Short.

The film premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France on June 14, 2013[6] and was released in the United States and Canada on May 9, 2014. It is the only film produced by Summertime Entertainment as the company was shut down in response to the film's underperformance at the box office, which received negative reviews from critics and was a sizable box office bomb, grossing $21.7 million worldwide against a budget of $70 million.

Plot

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In the Land of Oz, the Emerald City's co-leaders – the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion – discover that an evil Jester has stolen the broomstick of his sister, the late Wicked Witch of the West, and taken control over the Flying Monkeys. With Oz's future at stake, the Scarecrow decides to use his invention called the Rainbow Mover to summon Dorothy Gale to save the kingdom again. However, flying monkeys invade the castle and force the trio out the window.

In Kansas, Dorothy's farm has been wrecked by a tornado, leaving it in disrepair. A sleazy man claiming to be a government appraiser arrives and condemns the farmhouse, handing the Gales an eviction notice. Dorothy discovers people all across town have been handed the same notices and are moving on. Dorothy and Toto encounter a rainbow which transports them to Oz, but not to the Emerald City as intended.

Dorothy meets Wiser, an overweight and intelligent owl who cannot fly. They enter Candy Country, where everything is made out of candy, including the people. They are promptly arrested by Marshal Mallow for breaking the "no eating anything made of candy" rule due to the Jester tampering with the signs, and are taken to court. Upon realizing who Dorothy is, the judge drops the charges and releases her and Wiser. Mallow joins the group on their way to the Emerald City as a promise he made to find the missing General Candy Apple. Meanwhile, Glinda confronts the Jester, who has used a magic scepter created from his sister's broomstick and crystal ball to turn Oz's leaders, including General Candy Apple, into subservient marionettes. Glinda falls victim to this as well, giving him complete control of Oz.

Dorothy's company enter the Dainty China Country and require permission from the vain China Princess to pass through her kingdom. With Mallow posing as a suitor, the group enter the China Princess' castle and see her rejecting potential suitors, but she is enchanted by Mallow's singing. An earthquake caused by the Jester damages the land. An angry China Princess blames Dorothy for the Jester's torment, but agrees to allow her group to pass through on the condition that she accompanies them. Finding a bridge to the Emerald City destroyed, the group decide to construct a boat. All the talking trees refuse to cooperate except for an aging tree named Tugg, who is carved into a galleon. They sail into the Emerald City, finding it abandoned, only to be attacked by the Flying Monkeys. Dorothy's group escapes into a cave system but tumbles down a waterfall.

The China Princess is shattered by the fall and presumed dead, prompting Dorothy to head for the Jester's palace alone. Mallow mourns for the princess before discovering she is alive and fixing her. Mustering his confidence and strength, Wiser manages to fly off to aid Dorothy. Dorothy and Toto confront the Jester, who plans to kill her, only for Toto to drop a curtain on his head, with the lead Flying Monkey named "You" stealing the Jester's staff to regrow its wings after the latter shrunk them. As the Jester gives chase, Dorothy reunites with her captured friends, and they confront the Jester on the rooftop. Dorothy falls off the roof in the ensuing fight for the staff, but is caught by Wiser.

The rest of Dorothy's friends arrive with Tugg built on wheels, engaging the Flying Monkeys in battle. The Jester tries to rid himself of Dorothy by summoning a tornado, but Dorothy's own magic breaks the spell damaging Oz, freeing its leaders. The Jester is nearly sucked into the tornado, but is saved by Dorothy. However, once she casts the staff into the tornado, the Jester jumps in after it and vanishes along with it. Glinda appears and sends Dorothy and Toto home.

Reuniting with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, Dorothy rallies the townsfolk to stand up for their homes, discovering the appraiser is a con artist using multiple fake licenses to commit crimes. He is arrested by the sheriff while his lackey runs off, and Dorothy and her town's homes are rebuilt.

Cast

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Flying Monkey vocal effects provided by Scott Menville, Alan Shearman, Randi Soyland, and Flip Waterman.

Production

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When the Carroll brothers began raising money for the film in 2006, they were running a company called Alpine Pictures, which had previously made several low budget films. The Carrolls had a history of fundraising activities dating back to at least 1993, when they were sent a cease-and-desist letter by the state of Oregon accusing of them of selling unregistered securities.[8] The next decade they received cease-and-desist orders and fines in states such as California, Wisconsin, Utah, Michigan, and Illinois.[9] On the December 2, 2013 edition of the SpaceCast podcast, executive producer Greg Centineo confirmed that the film would be a musical and would feature music composed by Bryan Adams who also had a small voice role as a beaver foreman.[10]

According to an investigation by TheWrap, a total of six states in the United States individually sent cease-and-desist letters to the Carroll brothers as they were fundraising for the film, accusing them of violating financial laws.[8] It was reported by TheWrap that potential investors for the film had been told that the film would gross anywhere from $720 million to $2.04 billion U.S. dollars.[8]

Music

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The Legends of Oz, Dorothy Returns: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 6, 2014 by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.[11]

Original songs performed for the film include:

No.TitleWriter(s)Performer(s)Length
1."When the World"Tift MerrittLea Michele4:06
2."Candy, Candy"Bryan Adams & Jim VallanceMartin Short2:25
3."China Princess"Jim DooleyMegan Hilty3:56
4."Jester"Jim DooleyMartin Short2:26
5."Work with Me"Bryan Adams & Jim VallanceLea Michele & Chorus2:40
6."Even Then"Tift MerrittHugh Dancy, Lea Michele & Megan Hilty2:43
7."One Day"Bryan Adams & Jim VallanceLea Michele3:21
8."When the World (Reprise)"Tift MerrittLea Michele3:52
Total length:25:29

Reception

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Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return received negative reviews from both critics and audiences. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 16% based on 62 critics, with the consensus statement being: "Faced with the choice between staying in or seeing Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, most filmgoers will be forced to conclude that there's no place like home."[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 25 based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[13] CinemaScore gave the film an "A" on an A+ to F scale, based on polls conducted during the opening weekend.[14]

Box office

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The film made $1 million on its opening day in the United States, and $3.7 million in its first weekend, against an estimated $70 million budget.[15] By the end of its run, the film grossed $8.5 million in North America and $13.2 million internationally for a worldwide total of $21.7 million.[4]

Accolades

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At the 35th Golden Raspberry Awards, Kelsey Grammer won the award for Worst Supporting Actor for voicing the Tin Man in the film as well as for his live-action roles in The Expendables 3, Think Like a Man Too and Transformers: Age of Extinction.[16] This is the second animated film to win a Razzie; previously, Thumbelina won the since-retired award for Worst Original Song in 1995 for "Marry the Mole".

The film also received a nomination with Daniel St. Pierre for Best Feature Cristal Award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

Home media

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Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return was released on DVD and Blu-ray by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on August 26, 2014.[17]

Cancelled franchise

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Despite the film's underperformance at the box office, two sequels and a television series were said to be in the works, though the plan was that the sequels would likely go directly to DVD if the film did not perform well at the box office.[18] However, as of 2024, no further developments regarding the sequels or the television series have been announced, and the websites for both Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return and Summertime Entertainment have since been taken down; the only active web media to date is the Facebook page of Summertime Entertainment, which has not shared any new posts since promotion for the film's home media release on August 26, 2014.

Lawsuit

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On August 16, 2019, a civil case was heard in the U.S. District Court of California claiming that the Carrolls, and Greg Centineo, scammed at least 1,800 different investors in order to finance the movie. Per documents, they raised well over $122 million despite only using $70 million. Allegedly, some of the funds were used to promote the acting career of Centineo's son Noah.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f McNary, Dave (March 12, 2013). "3D Toon 'Legends of Oz' Sets 2014 Release (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  2. ^ "LEGENDS OF OZ: DOROTHY'S RETURN (U)". Signature Entertainment. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  3. ^ Mendelson, Scott (11 May 2014). "Weekend Box Office: 'Neighbors' Opens To $51M, 'Spider-Man 2' Hits $550M Worldwide". Forbes. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-10-16.
  5. ^ Mcnary, Dave (June 11, 2010). "Lea Michele heads to 'Oz'". Variety. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  6. ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (June 4, 2013). "Annecy Festival Unveils 2013 Feature Film Lineup". Animation World Network. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  7. ^ Mcnary, Dave (April 30, 2012). "Bernadette Peters joins 'Dorothy of Oz'". Variety. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c Zakarin, Jordan (June 24, 2014). "Yellow Brick Mess: How a Failed 'Wizard of Oz' Movie Became a $100 Million Investor Nightmare (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  9. ^ "How A Failed 'Wizard of Oz' Remake Became A $100 Million Investor Nightmare".
  10. ^ The Analyst (November 30, 2013). "Huge SpaceCast Guest! - Follow The Yellow Brick Road". Beware the Spaceman. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  11. ^ "'Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. April 25, 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  13. ^ "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  14. ^ Busch, Anita (May 12, 2014). "BOX OFFICE: 'Neighbors' A Raucous No. 1 For Around $49M As 'Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Drops 61%; 'The Other Woman' On Strong Legs; 'Heaven' Surprises … Again". Deadline. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  15. ^ "Friday Box Office: 'Neighbors' Squashes 'Spider-Man 2'". Forbes. May 10, 2014.
  16. ^ King, Susan (January 13, 2015). "Golden Raspberry Awards: 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' earns 7 nominations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  17. ^ Madison, Michael (July 2, 2014). "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return Blu-ray is coming in August". Hi-Def Ninja. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  18. ^ Armstrong, Josh (May 15, 2014). "Legends Of Oz producer talks franchise's future after box office disappoints". AnimatedViews.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
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